With attrition levels being on the rise across job categories and companies, most employers are at a loss to stop the churn.  The fallout of this for organizations includes increasing recruitment costs and loss of revenue as well as adverse effects on organizational stability.

What are the reasons behind employees opting for shorter tenures and how long are they sticking with their organizations on an average?

Wisdomjobs.com recently carried out a survey of private sector employees which found that more than 80% of the respondents have had tenures of less than 5 years with their current employers. This is in sharp contrast to a decade ago when nearly 25% of employees had tenures of 10 years or more.

Key findings from the survey are as below:

Average tenures

• 65% of the respondents had a current tenure between 2 and 5 years
• Of them, 17% of had been with their current companies for less than 2 years
• On the other hand, only 12% of those surveyed have served more than 10 years with a single organization

Sector wise reasons for shorter tenures less than 5 years in India

Reasons for shorter tenures

• More than 50% of those surveyed say that their shorter tenures are a result of the need to seek more senior roles
• 24% said that it was due to lack of visible growth in their current roles
• 18% attributed it to their desire to learn a new skill, which they felt was not a possibility in their earlier roles.
• 10% said their shorter tenures are due to unsatisfactory appraisals and the need for higher remuneration.

See: 82% Indian Employees Intend to Switch Jobs in 2016

Above analysis shows that the trend of short tenures is the highest in the IT sector at 45%, followed by the BPO sector at 38%, ITeS sector at 33%, and the Recruitment sector at 28%, the main reason for short tenure being target-oriented roles and higher stress levels.

Another study by executive search firm Executive Access India, the findings of which were exclusively shared with TOI, indicates that as many as 64% of the respondents surveyed have held their current roles for less than five years and almost 35% of the respondents have held their current tenures for less than two years.

In contrast, a minority of 12% have served tenures in a single role exceeding ten years. Just about a decade back, the statistic around people who held their tenures for more than ten years was double this number.

“It is alarming that the number of people delivering shorter tenures in an organization is as high as 88%. The 12% the study talks about (those who exceed a decade in their roles) was at least 25% a decade ago.”

“There is scope for this 12% to come down further as the younger generation gets into senior roles. Their DNA is different. For the older generation, there was a loyalty factor with the organization. The younger generation does not believe in loyalty and gives higher importance to self. As emotional bonds with an organization weaken, companies will have to brace for more challenges going forward,” said Ronesh Puri, MD, Executive Access India.

News credits: Times of India and WisdomJobs.com

Also read: Hiring Outlook for 2016 in India

Image credit: thehindubusinessline.com